UFC 264: Conor McGregor’s 12 most savage moments ranked ahead of his fight with Dustin Poirier

As the countdown to Conor McGregor’s much-anticipated rematch with Dustin Poirier heads into the final few hours, we take a look at the 12 fights and incidents which have come to define the Irishman.

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12. The Billionaire Strut (November 2016)

More than simply stealing that famed walk of WWE boss Vince McMahon, Conor McGregor has gone and made it his own. Which is why this makes the list ahead of so many other moments of savagery, including wins over Max Holloway, Chad Mendes and that old bloke in the pub. Indeed, when asked about taking that strut from the king of wrasslin’, the Notorious fired: “I don’t give a f..k about Vince McMahon. I stole that walk and that walk is now mine. That’s my walk. I created that walk”. Wonderfully, people believe it, too.

11. Red Panty Night (September 2015)

Ironically, it was at a UFC press conference dubbed ‘Go Big’ where Conor McGregor did just that — uttering a line that, while directed at UFC lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos, has since come to ring true for every fighter on the company roster. When RDA was asked about potentially fighting the Irishman, McGregor broke in: “When you sign to fight me, it’s a celebration. You ring back home, you ring your wife. ‘Baby, we’ve done it. We’re rich, baby. Conor McGregor made us rich. Break out the red panties’.” Undeniably, the savagery of that line is its truth.

Conor McGregor takes out Donald Cerrone in a real statement of intent.Source:Getty Images

10. Takes 40 seconds to kill a Cowboy. (January 2020)

After losing to both Floyd Mayweather and Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor seemed, if not done, then near enough to a bed at Shady Acres Retirement Home. But then in January 2020, and three years on from his last UFC victory, the fighter dubbed Notorious finished American cult favourite Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in 40 seconds. Here was the moment McGregor picked his aura out of the dirt, dusted it off and again started shouting about UFC gold.

9. “We’re not here to take part …” (July 2014)

For his first UFC main event, Conor McGregor was given a hometown bout where he didn’t so much beat Brazilian Diego Brandao as destroy him, via KO, in a tick over four minutes. Which isn’t the UFC megastar’s fastest win, sure. Or most brutal. But as for the crowd reaction? Truly, Google it. Apart from exploding in bloodthirsty cheers every time a McGregor shot landed, the mob also chanted for all four minutes before Brandao was dropped with a right and then bludgeoned with six straight lefts on the ground. All of which prompted McGregor to shout afterwards: “We’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over”.

It’s been an incredible seven years for Conor McGregor.Source:AFP

8. The Arrival of Mystic Mac (September 2014)

Initially, sports fans had Babe Ruth pointing out into centre field. Then, Muhammad Ali predicting finishes via those prophetic poems. More recently, however, the young ‘uns have had Mystic Mac. A phenomenon born before McGregor’s KO win over Dustin Poirier at UFC 178 — when he correctly foresaw a first round finish — the Notorious has since predicted, again and again, how his fights will end. “I said I’d knock him out in the first round,” McGregor said after that Poirer win. “And I knocked him out in the first round. You can call me Mystic Mac, because I predict these ’tings.”

7. ‘Who the fook is that guy?’ (November 2016)

When it comes to UFC press conferences, McGregor is pound-for-pound king. This after all, is the guy who stole Jose Aldo’s belt, shaped to throw a chair at Eddie Alvarez, actually threw soda cans at the Diaz brothers, even called Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza a “little f…ing weasel” to his face. But undoubtedly his most savage moment came before UFC 205, when undercard fighter Jeremy Stephens, from the back of the podium, suggested it was he who would be the greatest test of McGregor’s career. At which point the Irishman turned and, genuinely surprised, asked ’Who the fook is that guy?’.

6. Avenges Nate Diaz loss (August 2016)

It may not sit among his most brutal finishes, but know McGregor’s decision win over Nate Diaz at UFC 202 goes to the core of his aura. With Diaz having submitted McGregor via rear naked choke only five months earlier, the fighting Irishman put his cajones on the line in every sense, and triumphed. While Ronda Rousey would never be the same after her first UFC loss, and was gone from the sport altogether within a year, McGregor responded to his own in brutal, streetfighter style.

McGregor was the highest-paid athlete in 2020, raking in around $180 millionSource:AFP

5. Makes US$600 million via sale of Proper 12 Whiskey (April 2021)

Nothing screams savagery quite like taking just one day to make the net worth of Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio combined. Which is exactly what C-Mac did in April, when he sold majority ownership of his Proper 12 Whiskey to Proximo Spirits. According to Forbes, the business deal makes McGregor the highest earner of any athlete on the planet over the past year. Which is some claim given the Irishman has fought just once, and lost, in that time. Even more impressive, too, when you know Proper 12 is the whiskey equivalent of Fosters beer.

The build-up to the Floyd Mayweather fight was undoubtedly peak McGregor.Source:AFP

4. ‘F … the Mayweathers’ (July 2017)

While McGregor failed to beat Floyd Mayweather in their hyped Superfight of 2017, there is no doubting that when it came to the global press tour preceding said extravaganza, Notorious won by verbal knockout. Particularly, the stopover in Toronto, Canada. Here, truly, was McGregor the Grand Master of tongue fu. More than mocking Mayweather’s height, literacy and dress sense, or then stealing his backpack, the Irishman also led some 15,000 fight fans in a ‘F … the Mayweathers’ chant. Undeniably, peak McGregor.

3. Throws metal dolly at busload of UFC fighters

Yes, yes, yes … we know in his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov the Irishman got owned. But there is no doubting the savagery of this particular moment of madness when, enraged, and with a posse, McGregor burst into the Barclays Centre to try and attack the UFC lightweight champion. But with said champ on a bus, well, the Dubliner screamed for him to come off, banged at the windows and then, inexplicably, hurled that steel dolly, injuring several fighters aboard. Worse, it would be just one moment in a dark rivalry between the two men that eventually spilt into chaos on fight night.

McGregor coined the term "champ champ" when he stopped Eddie Alvarez in 2016.Source:News Regional Media

2. Towels up Eddie Alvarez, coins “champ champ” (November 2016)

Before McGregor exploded into the fight game, no fighter had ever held two titles simultaneously. But Notorious? Within a year of winning featherweight gold, the Irishman not only went up to challenge lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, but won. Spectacularly. Apart from destroying Alvarez, or creating history as the first fighter to hold two UFC straps at the same time, McGregor also bestowed upon himself that wonderful phrase which has since become a part of the sporting vernacular — “champ champ”.

McGregor finishes off Jose Aldo at UFC 194.Source:Getty Images

1. Starches José Aldo in 13 seconds (December 2015)

Of all the savagery McGregor has caused, nothing beats the way he destroyed Brazilian legend Jose Aldo, and earned himself the UFC featherweight title, in less time than it takes to pour a Guinness. Coming into UFC 195, Aldo was undefeated in nine years and 18 fights. King of the Favelas. All of which McGregor took, via that famed left hand, in just 13 seconds. Which coincidentally, is exactly as the Irishman had warned during a heated build up when he not only stole the champ’s belt at a press conference but growled: “If this was a different time, I would invade his favela on horseback and kill anyone that was not fit to work”. Incredibly, his real life assault was more brutal again.

Originally published asRanked: Conor McGregor’s most savage moments

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